Hello, friends! For this episode it is just Shelby and Tierney, but don’t worry we still have a case and a cocktail for you. Buckle up because Tierney is going to tell us all about the “Double Initial” Killer.
Our drink for this case, sticking with the double initial theme, is inspired by both the case the alliteration of our name, Dead Drunk. It’s a Dragonberry Daiquiri!
What you’re gonna do is combine 1.5oz Dragonberry Bacardi, .5oz simple syrup and lime juice in a shaker. Then you shake it up and pour it into whatever kind of glass you want. Garnish with a lime wedge and enjoy!
Now let’s get into our case. On January 11th, 1977 in Fairfax, California the police received an anonymous phone call: a body had been found, dumped near the side of the road. The woman had been buried, face down, underneath desert brush. She had pantyhose wrapped around her neck and stuffed down her throat and her feet were bound. Police determined she had only been there for maybe less than a day. They also determined that this was the body of 18 year old sex worker, Roxene Roggasch.
They were able to collect DNA from semen found on her body as well as what was found under her fingernails, however no match was found in the database at the time. With no other leads, Roxene’s case went cold. Later, police would say that the anonymous phone call they received reporting the location of Roxene’s body was likely her murderer, because of how specific his description of her location was.
One year later, on August 15th, 1978, the body of 22 year old Carmen Colon was found on a cow farm Port Costa, California, just 30 miles from where Roxene’s body was found. She was also found strangled and naked, dumped outside by the side of the road. She was also a sex worker–they were able to identify her because of an arrest record she had in the system.
Carmen’s sister claimed that Carmen had recently been involved in modeling and had an “erotic photo shoot” with someone, but she didn’t know who. Carmen’s case, like Roxene’s, went cold.
In Tiberon, CA in January of 1981, two black garbage bags washed up on the beach. A woman reported them to police after noticing them on her morning jog. They smelled terrible. Police didn’t prioritize the bags because they were not too concerned about them, however when they finally got picked up by sanitation workers at the beach, they were shocked and horrified to find female human remains inside the bags. Because of ligature marks on the neck, coroners were able to determine that strangulation was the cause of death. She had panty hose tied around her neck, and her hands and feet were bound. The coroner on this case had been assisting on Roxene Roggasch’s case as well, and was able to make a connection between the two. Later, the body was identified as that of Sharia Patton by her daughter. She had been living in an apartment complex in San Francisco that was managed by a man named Joseph Naso.
Joseph Naso was born in Rochester, NY, on January 7, 1934. In the 1950s, he served in the U.S. Air Force, and upon his return, he met his first wife, Judith. The couple were married for 18 years, and remained close after they divorced. The couple also had a son, Charles, who developed schizophrenia. Naso spent a lot of time taking care of his son, and visiting his ex-wife Judith in the Bay Area of California, where they lived. Eventually, in 2004, Naso settled in Reno, Nevada. Here, he worked as a freelance photographer, which will be important to our story later. It is also important to note that during this time, Naso committed petty crimes, such as shoplifting, and because of that, he earned the nickname “Crazy Joe” from his neighbors and acquaintances. Crazy Joe was interviewed by police in the case of Sharia Patton because of the creepy vibes he gave off and because witnesses had told police he had an interest in Sharia, however he was not listed as an official suspect and the case went cold.
In 1992, Renee Shapiro was hitch hiking near Morin County, California on her way to a Bob Dylan concert. She was quite the groupie, and had even officially changed her name to “Sarah Dylan” after Bob Dylan’s former wife. However, she never made it to the concert. Her skull was found near Nevada County, California, but not until much, much later.
In 1993, 15 years after the death of Carmen Colon, the body of 38 year old Pamela Parsons is found by a man who was out walking his dog. She was also strangled and dumped outside, naked, in Yuba County, California. Oddly though, her arms were crossed over her chest. At the time of her death, Pamela had been working at a restaurant, but would often accept money for sex to help make ends meet. She also was addicted to meth. Because of these connections to sex work, as we see so many times, her case was not taken too seriously and went cold.
31-year-old Tracy Tafoya was found dead, also in Yuba County, just a year later. She was found by a paper boy out on his route, and it seemed as if she was pushed out of a moving car. She had been drugged, strangled and raped. She, like the other women, was addicted to drugs and was a sex worker. Police were able to make the connection between her and Pamela’s murder, however no leads came in. Her case went cold for 16 more years.
In 2004, Joseph Naso moved from California to Reno, Nevada. He was still on probation from the petty crimes he committed in California, and as part of the move, he had to get a new probation officer once his move was approved by the state. By the time his move was approved, it was 2009, meaning Naso had been living in Nevada for 5 years already. The move had taken him a while to complete, however, because Naso was a category 5 hoarder and had a lot of crap.
Once he was completely moved and settled in, as part of his probation, his new parole officer, Wes Jackson, was allowed to search Naso’s home. Including surprise visits where Office Jackson came by to look around, completely unannounced. Naso was upset by the multiple surprise visits and even claimed that Jackson stopped by far too often. He filed a complaint with the state, and after a 4 month period without Jackson stopping by, Naso thought he had gotten rid of him. However, Jackson had just been busy and never even received the complaint Naso issued. This time, when Jackson returned to Naso’s house for an unannounced visit, he was not prepared for what he would find inside.
During his search, Jackson found mannequin parts, piles of women’s lingerie, journals and over 5,000 photographs of nude women–some alive, some deceased. The journals found in Naso’s house contained detailed accounts of what happened to the victims mentioned above.
Naso would reel women in by saying he was going to pay them to take their photographs, although many of them were aware that sex would be part of the deal. Naso, like Kendall Francois, would get angry if women ripped him off, which in Naso’s case meant leaving without having sex with him. Although these journals were read aloud in court, due to their graphic nature, we will not share them here.
In one of the journals, Naso also had a list of 10 unnamed women and geographical locations. The 4 victims Naso was charged with murdering were on this list, but the other 6 remain unidentified, and it is unknown whether or not it was a list of women he had killed already, or just women he was planning to kill.
Naso was charged for the murders of Roxene Roggasch, Carmen Colon, Tracy Tafoya and Pamela Parsons. Naso was not tried for the murder of Renee Shapiro and Sharia Patton. In the case of Renee, her skull was not found until right before the trial, and it was too late for them to try him for her case too. In Sharia’s case, he never admitted to murdering her and was not tied to the murder, despite her ID later being found in his house.
Naso currently sits on death row, but it is unlikely he will be executed before he dies of natural causes as he is currently 85 years old.
If you want to learn more about Crazy Joe and his case, listen to the full episode wherever you find your podcasts. Alternatively, you can jump down the rabbit hole yourself with our sources, listed for you below.
Make sure to share your cocktails with us, drink responsibly and avoid alliteration at all costs. Just kidding, I love it.
Bye, Mom!
Sources:
deadrunkcrime.home.blog 